RIYADH, 21 March 2004 — The head of the Supreme Commission for Tourism yesterday dismissed a US media outcry over a notice on the commission’s website saying Jews are banned from Saudi Arabia.

Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary general of the SCT, said advice on the SCT’s website that the Kingdom banned Jews from entering the country was “blown out of all proportions” by US media seeking to portray the Kingdom as anti-Semitic.

He also washed his hands of the website saying it was an experimental site launched in Dubai last year and designed by a private company.

“The website was vetted out by the company’s acting marketing director, who is British, and a marketing advisor, who is Australian. Unfortunately, the media consultant is based in New York. They put out a lot of information that was not true and also not part of the Kingdom’s policy,” the prince said.

“The site could have said Hindus are not allowed. We could have said Muslims from a particular area are not allowed. The website did not conform to any of our standards and was therefore unauthorized,” he said.

“It is all part of a smear campaign meant to tarnish Saudi Arabia’s image,” he added.

At a press conference at SCT headquarters, Prince Sultan also announced that a system for issuing tourist visas would be ready soon. When completed, it would enable tourists to download application forms from the Internet at www.mas.gov.sa.

Prince Sultan said the SCT was coordinating its approach with the ministries of interior and foreign affairs. “We will comply with a lot of security and other concerns of different ministries. All these concerns have been addressed. We are now waiting for the government’s clearance. The whole idea is to make the visa policy hassle-free,” he said. But he said the main thrust of the Kingdom’s tourism drive was to encourage Saudis to travel inside the Kingdom. Currently, some 4.5 million Saudis travel abroad spending an estimated $8 billion a year overseas. At least part of this spending could be tempted back into domestic tourism, leading to the creation of 1.5 to 2.3 million jobs over the next 20 years.

The Kingdom’s tourism policy envisages close partnership with the private sector in the funding of projects including construction of accommodation facilities in 10,000 tourism development areas.

The commission had also reached an agreement with the Ministry of Haj to turn Umrah agencies into tour operators. “It is a major breakthrough that would allow Umrah establishments to also engage in promoting domestic tourism after they have been prequalified,” he said.

The controversial Saudization of travel agencies would also go ahead, he said. The government has fixed a two-year deadline for full Saudization of front desk jobs in travel agencies. Fifty percent Saudization should be achieved by the end of this year.